Railroad cross-tie



(No Model.)

- E. R. PROCTER.

I RAILROAD GROSS TIE.

No. 347,734. Patented Aug. 17, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN R. PROCTER, OF WASHINGTON COURT-HOUSE, OHIO.

RAILROAD CROSS-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 347,734, dated August1'], 1885.

Application filed December 23, 1885. Serial No. 186,524. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN 1t. PROCTER, of Washington Court-House,Fayette county, Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement inRailroad Cross-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the invention are to construct railroad-ties of metal,either iron or steel, on account of their greater durability than theordinary tie, and for this reason greater cheapness in the end, and alsoto construct such ties with means for securing the rails to them, sothat, first, one or more ties may be removed from road-bed and returnedwithout disturbing the other ties or the rails; second, that the railsmay be likewise removed from and returned to position on ties withoutremoving the tie proper from its bed; third, that the necessity ofdrilling holes in the ends of rails may be obviated, since the customaryfishplate and bolt-fastening are unnecessary where my improved tie isused; fourth, to save the tgouble of gaging the road, as the ties aremade to the required gage,and when the rails are once laid they cannotpossibly shift; fifth, to lessen the cost of track-laying, as the amountof rails laid perday can be very materially increased with this tie, foras soon as it is laid the road is gaged, and then all that is necessaryis to slip in the'rails and secure the fastening-blocks, and the trackis ready for ballast; sixth, to economize life and rolling-stock, forthe rails are so securely adjusted in the chairs that any deviation,even in the sharpest curves, is out of the question, while under thepresent wood system, with its spikes, this is the weakest point;seventh, to prevent creeping. To attain these objects metallic ties ofsuitable form are combined with fastening blocks or chairs of metal thatreceive and lap over and against the top and side of rail-flange, asshown by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows aperspective view of my improved metallic cross-tie and rail-fasteningdevice. Fig. 2 shows a section taken lengthwise of tie and saidfastening device. Fig. 3 shows a fragment of plan of tie.

In the drawings, A represents an iron or steel tie, made of considerablewidth, to prevent its being pressed down into the road-bed,

and roughened or having corrugations e, as shown, to give a better holdon the ground, as well as having cross-ribs a and a a, as shown, neareach end of tie, partially for the same purpose. Said tie A is formedwith ribs or sides A A, running the entire length of .tie, whichstrengthen the tie and form near'the ends of tie abutments, which assistto retain the fastening-blocks B Band B B in .their proper places ontie. Upon the upper surface of said tie A A A, near each end of same,are the cross flanges or ribs a and a a, between which are fastened thechairs B and B, that hold the rail M in place by lapping the flange ofsaid rail with their respective flanges f and f.

Between the said ribs a and a a in the tie A I are the holes Hr and H,which receive the bolt 0 and the tenont of the block B, respectively,the former-to wit, the bolt Obeing placed in position in tie by passingthe head it entirely through thehole H, and then moving the shank ofbolt into the recess r of said hole H, this operation bringing the bolt0 into the proper vertical position occupied by it in the head of slotS'of the fastening-block B.

4 In order to lay a rail, M, after the tie A A A is in the road-bed andthe bolt 0 in the proper vertical position in said tie, place the chairB between the sides A A of tie, with its heel abutting against the ribsa a at end of tie and its circular tenon 15 into the hole H. The cushionc, of wood, rubber, or other suitable material, is next placed inposition on the lower jaw," J, of the chair B, said cushion 0 being of asize to cover said lower jaw, and fitting down between the abuttingsides A A of tie, which inclose it. The rail M is next laid on thecushion c, and then the fastening-block B is placed between the sides AA of tie, with its slot S inclosing the vertical bolt 0, its heelabutting against the cross-rib a,and its flange f overlapping the flangeof rail M. Slipping on the washer W and tightening the nut N secures therail.

To remove a tie from the road-bed, it is only necessary to unscrew a nutat each end of the tie, lift out both blocks at one end of tie and oneblock, B, on the other end, and then loosen and draw out, the same as awooden tie. A new tie can then be insertedand the whole operationcompleted without disturbing the rails and as easily as with thecustomary wooden tie.

I use, preferably, one or the other of two nut-lock devices of my owninvention to lock the nut Nto wit, Patent No. 328,972, October 27, 1885,or Patent No. 333,518, January 5, 1886.

It is obvious that the relative positions on each end of tie of thefastening-blocks B and B can be reversed and still be useful, thelocation of H and Hr being reversed also.

When so desired, the ties A can be turned upside downto wit, what isshown on the drawings as the sole of the tie A can be turned over andused as the top surface of tie, in which latter case the edges r A ofthe ribs A A of tie A rest on the ground in road-bed, while the bolts 0O and tenons t t engage the holes Hr Hr and H II, respectively, holdingthe fastening blocks or chairs as well to the inverted sole of tie, nowthe top surface, as they held them to tie in other described posit-ion.

The fastening blocks or chairs are cushioned,as shown and described, inorder to give the rails a slight Spring, so as to resist the shock ofthe passing train, and at thesame time allow the cars to ride easily.

To prevent the lengthwise creeping of the rails, variously caused, ametal pin, p, is passed through the hole d, made in the web of rail M,portions of the shank of said pin projecting from each side of saidweb,and engaging the slots or furrows a a,made in the crowns of thefastening blocks or chairsB 3,to receive such pins, thus holding therail M to the tie, and making it necessary for the tie to movein its bedbefore the rail could creep 1engthwise of track. The pin 1) may be ofany suitable donble-headcd variety to prevent losing out endwise, butpreferably one having a straight shank with a perforated disk-head onone end, the eye in disk being made of a size to pass over the threadedend of vertical bolt 0. I11 use the washer IV and nut N are put on oversaid perforated head of pin 2, which prevents its escape from its properposition.

In Fig. l, t represents arail-joint occurring between the blocks orchairs B B.

The corrugations 0 may be made lengthwise of the tie, instead ofcrosswise, as shown.

In practice only occasional crown-furrowed chairs need be used;therefore the holes d in web may be drilled in. 817m.

\Vhat I claim as new and useful and of my invention is- 1. A metallicrailway cross-tie having a channel-beam-like cross-section, androughened or corrugated on the under side to hold to the ground, andreversible, and adapted to receive movable metallic rail-fasteningdevices on either the under side of said tie oron the channel side ofsame, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. A metallic cross-tie having a corrugated or roughened under surfaceor sole to give a hold on the ground, and provided near each end withmovable metallic rail-fastening devices or chairs, in combination withan ordinary rail and a nut-bolt securely locking said rail-chairs andtie together, substantially as set forth.

3. The metallic cross-tic A, having one of its surfaces corrugated orroughened,the holes H1 and H near each end of tie, and the longitudinalribs or sides A A and cross-ribs c a, a a a a, a a a a, and 0" a, forthe purpose of strengthening tie and holding tie to the ground, as wellas for assisting to hold the fastening blocks or chairs B B and B B inposition on tie, substantially as described, and for the purpose setforth.

4. The metallic rail-fastening blocks or chairs B B and B B, the former,B 3, having the horizontal jaws J J, which bear the cushions 0 c, ofwood, rubber, or othersuitable material, and the circular tenons 25 t,which pro ject from the soles ofB B, and engage theholes H Hin the tieA, the latter, B B, having the vertical slots S S, which straddle thevertical fastening-bolts O O, which are fast in the recesses a r of theholes H H in tie and receive on their threaded ends the washers \V \Vand the nuts N N, and both forms-viz., B B and BB-having the flanges f fand f f, respectively,which lap over and against the topsand sides ofthe flanges of rails M M, substantial] y as and for the purpose setforth.

5. The metallic cross-tie A, having one of its surfaces corrugated orroughened, theholes H1 and H near each end of tie, and the longitudinalribs or sides A A and cross-ribs a a, a a a a, a a a cc, and 14 u, forthe purpose of strengthening the tie and holding the tie to ground, aswell as for assisting to hold the fastening blocks or chairs B B and B Bin position on tie, in combination with the movable metallic fasteningblocks or chairs B B and B B, having the flanges ff andff, respectively,which flanges lap over and against the tops and sides of the flanges ofrails M M, the blocks or chairs B B also having the horizontal jaws J J,which bear the cushions c c, of wood, rubber, or other suitablematerial, and the tenons t I, which ongage the holes H H in the tie A,and the blocks B B, having the slots SS, which straddle the verticalbolts 0 0, fast in the recesses 1'1- of the holes H H in tie and receiveon their threaded ends the washers \V \V and the nuts N N, to secure theblocks B B to the tie, and thus the rails M M and blocks B 3 also to tieA, substantially as and for the purpose Set forth.

6. In a rail-fastening device, the combination of metallicrail-fastening blocks or chairs, having slots or furrows in their crownsat right angles to rail, and a rail having a perforated web with metalpins, which pass through said perforations in web and engage withportions of their shanks projecting from each side of said web, withsaid furrows IIO or slots made in the crowns of said chairs, for thepurpose of receiving portions of said pins, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

7. In a rail-fastening device, the combina tion of metallicTail-fastening blocks or chairs, having slots or furrows u u in theircrowns at right angles to rail, and a rail, M, having perforations dthrough its web, with metal pins 1), having perforated heads 10, saidpins passing through said holes d in web of rail M, and engaging withportions of their shanks projecting from each side of said rail M,withsaid furrows u u in the crowns of said rail-fastening chairs, and saidheads p being engaged by metal bolts, which penetrate the perforationsin said heads 12, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

EDWIN RQ PROCTER.

Attest:

J. H. 1VIOORMAN, A. TrroRN'roN.

